Marie Callas Brand New Life

The divine fruits of meditation
The best way to achieve the Sreyokarma or the liberating karma is through the meditation. And meditating will lead us to the eternal and sacred path of soul’s happiness. As a fruit of the meditation the mind will withdraw from the sensorial world and will reach joy, happiness and truth and will not be disturbed any more by sorrow and greed. Meditation should be practiced with enthusiasm faith and care, following strictly the established disciplines. Some think that the benefits of the meditation are that they will be able to easily satisfy their mundane wishes. But that is a great mistake, because the meditation and the repetition of the name of God are meant to acquire an undivided attention in God, to freedom us from the sensorial bonds therefore reaching happiness in God. We mustn’t practice meditation with the idea of obtaining earth’s fruits; we must meditate looking towards inside of us, until we become able to contemplate the soul’s blessedness. Do not pay attention to the time that it takes to reach the objective, just practice with faith and persistence until God’s grace falls over you. Three forms exist of following the meditation’s path: The Satvic path, where you consider that the repetition of God’s name and the meditation, are duties that you have to do. That our life in earth is an illusion and you only wish and do good to everyone loving them, and not even do it for the fruits. The Rajasic path, where every step that you give, you give it because of the fruits that that will provide you. (With this attitude you will gradually loose the desire of practicing meditation) The Tamasic path where you only remember God when you are in danger or suffering, and as soon as you get rid of the problems you forget God. (Those that are in this path will never be able to purify their minds). Meditating will allow you to get reed of the ignorance, layer after layer, but in order to achieve that you must be equipped with good habits, discipline, and high ideals. When we develop the interest and pleasure of meditating, then we achieve a will and a strength, bigger than the effort of meditating. Sathya the truth is so comforting, that when we reach it, there isn’t any more a meditation, a meditator or an object of the meditation, because they all become One. The atmic blessedness is the goal and the fruit of the meditation. The human being that reaches that becomes pure, free from suffering and divine. Then he will find happiness within himself, because the meditation will help him discover within himself the fountain of blessedness, he will be able to submerge himself into his inherent divine state, and become a Mahatma (a great soul). From there on he will be free and realized, and will live in blessedness and peace. That’s the fruit of meditation! Written by Dr. Roberto A. Bonomi

You will find many articles about meditation like this one, at Dr. Bonomi's web site: http://www.rb-meditation.com This article may be reprinted provided no changes are made and this resource box is included in full.

Staying Honest With Friends
Friendships are tough, aren’t they? All of us go through the process of finding people we enjoy and feel comfortable confiding in. Once a friendship is sealed, the serious stuff begins �” staying in touch; being there when friends need us; being thoughtful, trusting, and honest. The last two are the hardest. Deep down, a voice is always saying, “She doesn’t need to know that! It’s too personal!” or “What if he tells someone?” And let’s not forget about the politeness factor �” if your slightly overweight friend asks if she needs to shed some pounds, are you really going to say yes? Let’s face it: sometimes honesty just isn’t possible.

Additional stress is placed on friendships as people get busier, have homework to do, extracurricular activities and jobs to go to, and growing bodies to keep healthy. At the end of the day, there are times when we’re just too damn tired to deal with honesty.

But we need friends because we can tell them things, trust them, and know that they trust us. So how can we make sure friendships don’t fall apart due to dishonesty or lack of trust? In this fast-paced world of the lap tops, cell phones, blackberries, and digital everything, communication can be instantaneous. Although face-to-face interaction is crucial, today’s average person is constantly moving. To help us stay in touch in the midst of the blur, we now have e-mail, instant messaging, and social networks that allow us to connect with our friends with the click of a button or two.

This is a good thing, right? Well, mostly. With the replacement of an actual person with a computer screen, we no longer have faces to read or tones of voice to listen to. There is the knowledge that another person is somewhere on the other end typing a message, but something of them is lost. A kind of dehumanization occurs, a phenomenon that has curious affects �” people are more forward and direct online, more willing to put themselves out on a limb because they don’t have to deal with an immediate personal response.

What? Did I just say that the more removed a friend is from another friend, the more honest they become? Yep. I know…weird. Now for the clincher �” how can we get even closer to total honesty with friends online? The answer is anonymity, a long word with a simple meaning �” to have one’s identity hidden. A new craze online has developed as more websites base themselves around this idea of anonymous online interaction. You can make sure your friends will be totally honest by letting them talk to you anonymously. And you can be totally honest while messaging them anonymously. Awkward social etiquette and face-to-face tensions are eliminated. You won’t be able to point a finger at your friends afterwards (and vice versa). But you’ll get the truth. Cool huh?

Amanda Jameson is a junior at Stanford University with a passion for writing, psychology, communication, and sociology.

Learning Transcendental Meditation
It is not difficult to learn transcendental meditation. If you are looking to escape from the whirlwind of ringing cell phones, traffic snarls and screaming kids, transcendental meditation can provide a peaceful getaway from the craziness of everyday life.

In 1958, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi formally introduced his transcendental meditation technique. Since then, he has written several books, lectured and toured extensively all over the world and trained over 40,000 teachers. Transcendental meditation is now practiced in the workplace, at home and in medical settings. In addition, doctors and health professionals are increasingly prescribing transcendental meditation as means of combating anxiety disorders and stress.

You may be wondering what is transcendental meditation and what makes it different from other forms of meditation? One of the most exciting elements of the transcendental meditation technique is that it so simple and easy to practice. With the right focus and dedication, you can learn transcendental meditation in a matter of moments.

Basically, during the meditation session, your body enters a deep and peaceful state of relaxation, while maintaining alertness and clarity. First, the person chooses a word or image to focus on, perhaps a religious or cultural symbol that has special meaning. As the person replays this word or image over and over, the body descends into a deeper and deeper state of restfulness. The session can last anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour and should take place in a calm and relaxed setting, with minimal noise and distractions.

No other meditation technique has been so extensively studied and researched. During transcendental meditation, the brain falls into a theta brain wave pattern (akin to sleep and deep relaxation), which then carries over to the state of wakefulness. Physical benefits include increased mental comprehension, focus, retention and creativity. Another interesting benefit is the actual reversal of the aging process. In a study conducted by the International Journal of Neuroscience, the biological age of practitioners of transcendental meditation was, on average, twelve years younger than their chronological age. Transcendental meditation also has positive effects on age and stress related conditions such as insomnia, high blood pressure, decreased visual acuity, hearing loss and depressed cerebral blood flow.

It is interesting to note that adherents from all religions choose to learn transcendental meditation. Although it has roots in Hinduism, the transcendental meditation technique can be applied to any cultural context. In fact, those who learn transcendental meditation are encouraged to adapt symbols that have meaning and depth for the individual. For example, a rabbi may choose to focus on a symbol or image rooted in Judaism to enhance the effectiveness of the session. In contrast, an agnostic may choose an image from nature such as a beautiful meadow or sunset to achieve relaxation. The beauty of transcendental meditation is its flexibility.
http://www.meditationandmore.com

Jamie Lynn has dedicated herself to teaching others the Power of Meditation and other alternative health/healing tips and techiques for the mind, body and spirit! http://www.meditationandmore.com

The Practice Of Not Furthering Out From This One by Elysha
It is completely understandable how you are forever hopeful that there may just be some golden elixir out there that is going to relieve you of the suffering that you find yourself in, from within your daily living. You do not understand how it is you being lost in the mechanics of trying to be something that is not true of who you are, that is creating your own reflection in life; that you furthering out and away from this “you” that is already true of you, is what has you hankering for other “out there” extravaganzas to distract you from the daily and momentary round of pain and dissatisfaction that you keep on feeling the frustration of. You keep on wishing for, looking for, something from outside of yourself to relieve you of it all. Someone comes along and offers you “golden balls” that is going to magically dissolve you of the very thing that you get up to without awareness; that you keep on actively trying to do, which obviously does not work for you. You can certainly receive “siddhi” – spiritual juice or power – from outside of yourself but this cannot relieve you of your own daily activity of trying to be something that is not true of who “you” are. You can attempt to meditate and try to go inside who you think you are and hope for some revelation to come along that is going to relieve you of your own pain, but alas, this is not going to do it for you either. Internally “out there” or externally “out there” is not going to have you standing freely in the reality of who you already are – which is the free standing one of all time that is already flowing through the eyes of this mindbody that you have so mistakenly identified yourself as being. Going within is a poetical expression for finding the “you” of you which is already free of all arisings, even as they arise. Going within means the aligning of your conscious focus of attention to “that” which already is the happening thing right now – it is flowing through the eyes of who you think you are. It is flowing through this mindbody that you keep on unconsciously trying to be. Without this “you” your mindbody would not even be; without your mindbody “you” would still be – you cannot get away from this “you” that you are, ever. Going within means finding who you already are and stopping at and as this one – your “areness”, your “amness”, your “youness;” that which is already flowing through this mindbody that you keep on thinking that you are and that you keep on trying to be. It is this “motion of seeing” that is flowing through your very eyes right now – this very “you” that is flowing through and that you keep on failing to recognise. Recognise means to know again. You already know who you are but there has been a veil preventing you from realizing this “you” of you for so long now, that it appears that you cannot and are not capable of finding it. This is no longer true for you. The dormant seed of this “you” has come to light – the veil has been rent – and you are now very capable of realizing this “you” of you if this is what you so wish to do. Who you are is this “motion of aliveness” that is flowing through your eyes right now. Aligning your conscious focus of attention to this very “seeing” and coming to rest as this very “aliveness” will have you standing free of who you think you are. It is through the practice of not furthering out from this one that is flowing through the eyes of this mindbody that you find yourself flowing through, that you begin walking the journey of self discovery of the heart of existence. It is through this finding and stopping at and as this “you” that the mindbody begins to unravel from its falsehood of being informed by the mind, freeing you to being the free standing one that already is here.

If you are interested in being the freedom of your heart visit Elysha's website for more free information and self help products. http://www.elysha.org/self.html

Vipassana in Business
How can an ancient meditation technique possible have anything to do with business, especially if it is taught for free? The answer is simple. In India it has been known for many years that Vipassana meditation has a very beneficial effect on business because managers and employees that do vipassana on a regular basis are less stressed and are generally happier people. Anybody who practises Vipassana will confirm that it has literally changed their lives, that it has cured them from anxiety, depression, stress and many other modern ailments. It has helped them to lead a fuller and more relaxed life. Many experiments have been done with Vipassana meditation in prisons and in a variety of businesses with very positive results. Unfortunately, it is not used very much yet. Why? Learning Vipassana meditation takes some time. A basic course takes 10 days, which is an amount of time that not many people in our busy lives can make free. Thereafter, the recommendation is to practise Vipassana one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening, but if you do not have time for that, then at least on a daily basis. Now how can you make time for all that when you have a 40 hour a week job, a family and children, etc. etc. Nobody will tell you it is easy to make all this time, but those that have done so and have made the sacrifice will tell you it is well worth it. Because you become more relaxed, it makes you more productive. You can do more in less time. Also, when you come home after your busy working day, you will have more energy and will not just flop out on the coach watching television. Another side-effect that many have noticed is that they need less sleep. Well there is at least one hour won! Now you might want to do a Vipassana course straight away with all the promised I made above. But beware that it takes time. Don’t expect any miracles. You will have changed after a 10 days course, no doubt about that. But the beneficial effects mainly manifest itself if you keep at it, practising daily and doing another 10 day retreat every year. Doing a Vipassana course is a serious undertaking and by no means easy. Don’t for a minute think that it is easy to sit on your bud all day and practising. Don’t think that it is like relaxing all day long. It is actually very hard and not everybody makes it to the end of those ten days. You have to face yourself during a meditation course. You have to face and evaluate how you do things, why you do things, how your life is organised, the arguments you have had and your dreams. You might find this very hard to do. Sometimes we simply do not want to see the truth about ourselves. Vipassana makes us face the truth. It means seeing things as they really are. But when we manage to do this, we come out the other side a better person and everybody who has done it feels that a great weight is lifted off his or her shoulders. So if you feel up to it, do a Vipassana meditation retreat because the benefits are really worth it. I can personally testify to the many benefits I have experienced and you can read more about that on my blog. Just be warned that it is not an easy ride and if you feel you are not capable of spending 10 days of your life sitting on the ground, observing yourself and not speaking to anybody, then don’t do it.

Margret owns blogs on anxiety attacks.

Living with Joy
Living with joy can sometimes be a challenge. When things appear to be going against our will, we tend to experience this as pain, suffering, or that we’re having a bad day. Recognizing that we are in control of our feelings, and that we have the choice to live in joy, or in fear is the first step to creating a life full of joy and positivity.

One principle that we all need to acquire is the ability to see all situations, people, and events from a positive perspective. Instead of viewing bad things in life as a prompt to get upset and angry, try to view the “bad things” as lessons that are helping you grow, helping you to become as whole of an individual as possible. Too many times, we think that the outer world, the physical reality is creating our day, causing us to be sad or unhappy; however it is the opposite that is true. We create our day, we create the circumstances for joyous living.

The most important lesson is that “beingness” precedes experience. In order to be happy, we first need to “be happy” inside, and this internal happiness radiates outward through every cell of our bodies and creates the outer experience of a smile, or a laugh, or an intimate connection between two people. It is in this “beingness” that we have the ability to see and to choose our feelings, desires, goals, and dreams, which then enables us to manifest an outer reality based on our true selves.

We create the reality in which we experience joy, anger, love, and fear. Because we have the ability, the free will, to choose our reality, we can make that conscious choice to try to just be happier, more grateful, and more sensitive. This happiness though will never come if you are looking outside of yourself first. Because, what we just learned is that in order to be happy we have to have the internal feeling of happiness to then create that happiness in our daily lives. Remember that your beliefs about reality create your experience of it.

So, start changing your negatives into positives, gain clarity, and open your heart by looking inside yourself. When we start changing ourselves from inside out, the universe will respond to us in ways in which we could never imagine. The ability to start manifesting your goals and dreams is already inside of you. Take the leap to start living in joy today.

David Molina writes articles on currency trading, manifesting your goals and dreams, and internet marketing. To Start Manifesting Your Goals and Living Your Dreams, visit http://www.manifestationpower.com for your free Manifesting Mindset eBook.

Listen And Hear
By Devlyn Steele Life Coach Advice Who doesn’t enjoy being listened to? We crave good friends and a partner in life with whom we can share our life experiences, both good and bad. Whether we are mad, sad, frustrated, happy or excited, we crave the company of a good listener. This includes the simplest of inconsequential daily conversations. Even though we like be listened to, most of us are not very good at listening. Be honest, often we are so caught up in what we want to say and how we feel that we stop hearing what others are saying to us. As a life and relationship coach, I see many disputes prolonged because people just don’t hear one another. Listening is at the core of relationships and understanding. If you don’t listen, how do you learn about each other or make each other feel good about the relationship? Being listened to makes us feel validated and relieved of built up thoughts and feelings. In all relationships, particularly intimate ones, it is as important to be a good listener as it is to be heard. Working with couples my job often is to restate what each person is saying because each person is caught up in how they feel and they no longer hear each other. You cannot understand what another person is saying or feeling if you do not take the time to see things from their perspective. Until you hear what is being said you cannot work through the issues, compromise and resolve your differences. There are skills to being a good listener and listening with what I call an “open ear.” Having an open ear means becoming an active listener. It means not wanting to say anything. Your primary focus is on what is being said rather than what you want to say. When you release yourself from the need to comment, you can focus entirely on what you are hearing. You become fully present and the speaker knows you are paying attention. Your body language should be relaxed with no fidgeting. If you act restless or bored, the speaker becomes self-conscious. Keep eye contact. When you focus your eyes on the speaker, it keeps you from wandering into your own thoughts and it allows the speaker’s facial expressions to accentuate the story. Listen both with your ears and your eyes. Let the speaker know you are listening not by interrupting to say something, but by keeping your focus on them. Listen and don’t speak. Believe it or not, most people including you don’t want too much feedback. They simply need you to hear them. With that in mind, don’t interrupt or start offering advice or judgments. Having an open ear means simple listening. Offer feedback only when prompted but refrain from taking over the conversation or sounding like you are lecturing. When you start to lecture the speaker regrets having talked to you and feels more resentment than relief from the encounter. It doesn’t matter if you agree with what you are hearing or not. When you listen with an open ear it allows you to hear a different perspective. You may even learn something. When you are patient and free of your preconceived notions you may find the speaker has some valid and/or interesting points. Regardless, the fact that you are listening doesn’t mean you must share the same point of view; it just means that you care enough to listen. In relationships even if you don’t feel the same way as your partner, you might find that it more important to understand how he or she is feeling than to argue. How each of us feels is a reflection of the person each of us is. While you are just listening, confirm that you have been listening by repeating back short clips of what you’ve heard. You don’t have to have all the answers. Remember that often the speaker only needs you to hear him or her. Express empathy when needed by interjecting a simple, “I am sorry that is happening.” Show your interest by asking questions and you will discover more about that person than you ever knew. Be patient, pay attention and listen with an open ear and you will see your relationships improving. “Mastering good listening skills is one of the most precious gifts you can give to those you live, work and play with. It will help in building and maintaining strong bonds, endear you to those you care about, and will even improve your work environment.” In the simplest of terms consider the word listen, it means just that, “To listen.”

About Tools To Life Developed by Life Coach Devlyn Steele, Tools To Life is a revolution in self- development, a 77-day program in which thousands have implemented successful changes in their lives. Devlyn Steele is a public consultant, a private counselor, a radio host and an author. He has hosted his own radio show, "Tools To Life" and has been a guest on over 150 various shows. For more information, visit: http://www.lifecoachadvice.com/